Research & Resources
Why do we need to understand more about the intersection of runaway and homeless youth and relationship violence? Here are three good reasons:
- Abuse and neglect at home is often the reason that youth end up on the streets and the experience of abuse at home may increase the risk of being abused or becoming abusive in adolescent and adult relationships.
- The relationship violence that youth perpetrate or experience on the street is both similar and different than that experienced by their peers in more stable housing, with important implications for intervention and prevention efforts by both runaway and homeless (RHY) and domestic and sexual violence (DV/SA) programs.
- There is more we can do to provide a stronger safety net for youth at risk and a broader set of resources to help all youth develop the skills to form and sustain healthy and safe relationships.
This Toolkit section includes an overview of research on the experiences of abuse and violence by runaway and homeless youth and the context in which relationship violence occurs.
- Research on the Intersection of RHY and Relationship Violence
- Internet Resources: Relationship Violence and Runaway and Homeless Youth
- Dating Violence Prevention Curricula and Approaches
- Readings: Experiences of Relationship Violence for Runaway and Homeless Youth
- Readings: Theories and Models of Dating Violence Prevention
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“Most runaway and homeless youth providers screen for family violence but not necessarily partner violence. The intake form asked what’s going on at home, but youth won’t necessarily relate that to their boyfriend or girlfriend or someone they’ve been intimate with.” |
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